The top-scoring line in women鈥檚 hockey features the nation鈥檚 top two scorers, Taylor Heise and Abigail Boreen, who will check into Saturday鈥檚 NCAA tournament game against Minnesota Duluth with a combined 124 points.
But it鈥檚 their partner, Catie Skaja, who just might make the whole thing work.
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鈥淭hose two know if they didn鈥檛 have Skaja, they wouldn鈥檛 have the success they鈥檙e having,鈥� Minnesota assistant coach and former Gophers All-American Natalie Darwitz said.
Together, they are arguably the best line in college hockey with a combined 61 goals and NCAA-leading 170 points.
鈥淲e feel unstoppable,鈥� Boreen said.
That鈥檚 been true enough, but the Bulldogs will have something to say about that on Saturday when the team鈥檚 meet at Ridder Arena for a trip to the Frozen Four on March 18-20 in State College, Pa.
Eighth-ranked UMD (25-11-1) made quick work of No. 9 Harvard on Thursday, a 4-0 victory at Ridder that set up a sixth meeting this season between the WCHA rivals. Leading the way was the nation鈥檚 second-leading scoring line. and it鈥檚 pretty close.
Senior center Gabbie Hughes scored a hat trick, and linemates Elizabeth Gigu猫re and Anna Klein had assists on all of them for a total of eight of the Bulldogs鈥� 11 points. That鈥檚 now 166 points this season that that line.
As Gophers coach Brad Frost said before the teams鈥� last meeting, 鈥淚t starts with them.鈥�
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One could say the same for the top line of No. 2 Minnesota (29-8-1). Heise leads the nation with 19 goals and 66 points, and Boreen is next with 24 goals and 58 points. But it鈥檚 often Skaja, a senior from New Prague who was hampered by injuries last season, leading the way as the first forward in the offensive zone 鈥� the F1 in Gophers鈥� parlance.
Asked to describe her role, Skaja said, 鈥淚 see it as one that just disrupts things, gets the energy going. I mean, love to be F1, and (Darwitz) and I talk about it all the time 鈥� that鈥檚 my role, to be F1, cause those turnovers, allow time and space for those two.鈥�
Early in the season, Frost and his staff made two moves that seemed to sync up the Gophers鈥� entire lineup, moving Skaja to the first line and making Amy Potomak the center on the third. The moves were made before a road series at then-No. 3 Colgate, a Gophers sweep.
Since then, Skaja has scored all 18 of her goals and registered 26 of her 28 assists, but the moves made every line better. Minnesota was 3-3 before the change; they鈥檙e 25-6-1 since.
鈥淲e have confidence, at any point in the game, to play any line against the other team鈥檚 top line, and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 cool about this team 鈥� that depth,鈥� said Darwitz, who with assistant Jake Bobrowski has coached the Gophers forwards this season.
The matchup of top lines isn鈥檛 lost on either team.
鈥淚t kind of fuels us to play against such a strong line and gives our unit some extra motivation,鈥� said Hughes, who grew up in Lino Lakes and played at Centennial High 歪歪漫画. 鈥淚t also is a lot more fun playing against such high-level competition.鈥�
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More important is the game itself. UMD wasn鈥檛 happy with the way it played in the WCHA Final Faceoff, especially after going 2-2 against the Gophers during the regular season. The Gophers scored in the first 43 seconds and never trailed in a 5-1 victory.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really fired up knowing we didn鈥檛 play the way we wanted to play, and didn鈥檛 play to the best of our abilities,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just excited to prove that game was a hiccup for us, and want to start as strong and as fast as we can.鈥�
The Gophers have something to prove, as well. They were ranked No. 1 for five weeks in both weekly polls and the PairWise and RPI standings before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to Ohio State in the Final Faceoff championship game.
The Bulldogs were in the Frozen Four last season; Minnesota hasn鈥檛 played in an NCAA tournament game since 2018-19. Ready to play Ohio State in a first-round game before college sports were shut down in 2020, they were left out of the field last season.
鈥淚 think we have a lot to give,鈥� Skaja said. 鈥淲e have a lot that was taken away from us, so we鈥檙e going to play with more grit, more intensity, and I think that鈥檚 going to shock some teams. It鈥檚 a really exciting time. We haven鈥檛 been here in a while and it鈥檚 good to be back and be able to prove that we should be here and we are the best team in the country.鈥�
